This chapter describes a SoTL program at Simon Fraser University that focuses on the importance of analyzing the internal coherence and alignment of the program design and the thinking underpinning the design as the first steps in evaluating effectiveness or impact.

Engaging students as actors in rather than audience of their education. This is both the primary feature of experiential education as John Dewey envisioned it and its underlying link to education for democracy: the flourishing of democracy requires citizens who are empowered actors, and such citizens cannot be produced through educational…

This article presents generalisations drawn from experience gained designing and renewing study programmes so that the use of learning outcomes became the underlying principle of curriculum organisation. Conceptions of a purpose (profile), aim and outcomes of a study programme are presented, their formulation requirements are discussed and…

We propose that the design and implementation of effective "Social Learning Analytics (SLA)" present significant challenges and opportunities for both research and enterprise, in three important respects. The first is that the learning landscape is extraordinarily turbulent at present, in no small part due to technological drivers.…

Learning Analytics can provide powerful tools for teachers in order to support them in the iterative process of improving the effectiveness of their courses and to collaterally enhance their students' performance. In this paper, we present the theoretical background, design, implementation, and evaluation details of eLAT, a Learning Analytics…

In this article, relevance of practice during university studies is highlighted, as well as the main stages of its organisation, qualitative parameters, as well as criteria and indicators that validate them are defined. Discussion on the idea that taking into consideration qualitative parameters of organising practice as a component of studies…

Peer teaching has been recognized as a valuable and effective approach for learning and has been incorporated into medical, dental, and healthcare courses using a variety of approaches. The success of peer teaching is thought to be related to the ability of peer tutors and tutees to communicate more effectively, thereby improving the learning…

Discusses the role of educational development units (EDUs), which support improvement of teaching in Australian universities, focusing on the tension between the individual faculty consultation function and the unit's role at an institutional level. Suggests these two levels of action should be considered complementary and necessary. Describes…

A Tel Aviv University (Israel) study applied qualitative methods to evaluate a model for improvement of university teaching. A departmental instruction specialist treats instructional quality issues comprehensively within a department. Two years of implementation in the physics department have resulted in increased instructional quality, faculty…

Year-long team projects with external clients provide a well recognized opportunity for students to gain industry experience, whilst being supported and guided by staff to minimize risks. Each group should be supervised to ensure that they have enough direction and confidence to approach a new problem of significant size, without being daunted. A…

Undergraduate nursing education in the United Kingdom is now at the university level, either through incorporation into universities or in semiautonomous colleges. This has required considerable cultural adjustment and created challenges, particularly with greater interaction of nursing with psychology, sociology, and biology. Changes are examined…

This paper identifies some of the major obstacles to the integration of university qualifications into New Zealand's National Qualifications Framework. Currently, New Zealand's universities are under pressure to integrate their qualifications into the Framework which employs a method of unit design that is generally more suited to trade and…